Glenn KatzYour Design Journal entries this week should highlight your design thinking that influenced your decisions about:
- your overall strategy and the features of the structural system
- the material and framing system selected
- the locations of structural columns and major framing elements
- any special structural challenges
For my exhibition center, I wanted to use exposed timber columns that visibly supported the walls and floors in order to be able to visualize the structural elements as one walks through the center. The timber beams are also placed directly below the floor rather than intersecting the floor to emphasize those exposed elements. I first created a grid that passed through the main walls and features of the building in order to have a consistent pattern with my structural elements. This way, column space was even and as symmetrical as possible throughout the structure, and there were no random columns in the middle of a room. As I was placing my structural models, I went back and forth with my architectural model to modify some of the architectural elements such that they would fit better with my structural components. I also put more structural support such as added in columns in spaces like atriums and elevator shafts. The greatest challenges was modelling around these atriums, as well as placing structural beams in rooms that did not follow the symmetrical pattern of the grids. Supporting the roof in the courtyard was also a big challenge because the roof is placed in very different shapes and angles.
